ESPN's 'Get Up' Should Be Eliminating A Host Instead of Possibly Adding One
By Bobby Burack
According to Michael McCarthy of Sporting News, ESPN’s new morning show Get Up could be in for more major changes before football season begins. One of those could be adding a fourth member to the table with a football background.
The rumored names are Ryan Clark and the two that were originally rumored to be part of the show Booger McFarland and Damien Woody. The reason for this among others is to increase the ratings of an expensive show that has undoubtedly been a disappointment thus far.
If ESPN does plan to make a drastic on-air change, it should be in the opposite direction. One of the glaring weaknesses of the show has been the chemistry between Mike Greenberg, Michelle Beadle, and Jalen Rose. It often appears at least one of the three is left sitting quietly while the other two are bantering.
Whether they add another full-time co-host or have one appear more regularly – like Clark, McFarland, and Woody have done – it would only complicate things even more.
All three of them have experience with Greenberg from his days on Mike & Mike. It is beyond conceivable that the more one of them is on set, the more distance the hosts will become with Greeny and the fourth addition having one conversation and Beadle and Rose, who do NBA Countdown together, having another.
The tweak to be made on Get Up, if one is to be made, is to actually eliminate one of the chairs.
As shown with the new 6 pm SportsCenter, sports fans want nostalgia. Get Up has had disappointing numbers from day one, and the only logical reason is when people turn on ESPN in the morning they want what they are used to.
The quickest, easiest, most logical way to give the audience back what they want is to integrate more traditional SportsCenter highlights and interviews into the show. That strategy should be done with two hosts, not three or four. If they were to do this, it would seemingly be Rose – who is not a host – being eliminated from the mix.
There is a case to be made Rose can shine brighter focusing on the show Jalen & Jacoby and appearing across the network as the top NBA analyst.
It is still very early in the process for Get Up, but it has been clear that the audience is not fond of the show. Get Up should have received one of its biggest boosts during this time as portions of the playoffs, that are rating well (up 30% from 2017), have been airing on ESPN the night before.
Whether the morning show sees an on-air change or not, it should not be a change that only adds to the problem it already has, but instead one that utilizes a process of elimination.